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A lot of new home buyers are getting a mortgage before a wedding ring.
There’s a growing trend of first-time home buyers purchasing a home with a partner who isn’t their spouse, according to data from the National Association of REALTORS®. In 1981, less than 1% of first-time home buyers were unmarried couples. Today, that number is 16%.
More people have been buying a first home together recently, despite mortgage rates staying around 7%. And a lot of those buyers are unmarried couples. The number of such couples buying a first home together has risen over the past four decades.
“We’ll get married later, maybe we won’t, but that’s a decision for another day — and it’s separate from the housing choice,” Jessica Lautz, the deputy chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS®, told MarketWatch about the trend.
“Housing affordability is a problem regardless, but perhaps people are saying, ‘Well, let’s take advantage right now while we can afford this property,’” she added. “Perhaps there’s less competition in the marketplace because interest rates have risen.”